Garry Tonon just celebrated his 26th birthday – at the height of his prep for the upcoming ADCC. Hower much of the media attention was turned to the much anticipated Polaris bout against Dillon Danis, the grappling coach of Conor McGregor.
In the main event of Polaris 5, the two went head to head after a very suspicious looking weigh ins and grappled to a judges decision that went Tonon’s way due to a competitive edge he exhibited.
Dillon Danis vs Garry Tonon #Polaris5 pic.twitter.com/CDnpjUjzp8
— Fancy Combat (@FancyCombat) August 19, 2017
However Tonon just revealed he had a serious handicap leading upto the fight:
I never would’ve posted these photos if I had lost my match at @polaris_professional. The reason is simple, no matter what’s happening in life, no matter what excuses you have, no matter what hardships you go through, no one really cares about anything but results, and rightfully so. I’ve had serious injuries sicknesses, family members die, all before major tournaments. But guess what? You think I’m the only one? Do you think life is ever going to go perfectly? Hell no! Honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. I live for adversity and tough times, it makes me feel alive, and it makes victory and accomplishing goals taste that much sweeter. A couple weeks or so before Polaris I got a serious rapidly developing staph infection in my knee. It was so painful I could barely walk, I got very sick very quickly, I had to stay in the hospital for 36 hours with IV antibiotics to clear the infection. It took me out of training for over a week. When I resumed training it was extremely painful. If I lost however, you wouldn’t even hear about it, Because no body gives a danm about your excuses! Huge thanks to my friends @antnyneoguido @jeffreyschu @ottaviabourdain and @eddie_wolverine for visiting me and bringing me food. Thanks to Karim for helping me get the treatment I needed and not letting me die.
